Born and raised in Toronto, Alfred Skinner was only 16 when he entered the ranks of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1912 with the Parkdale Canoe Club. The next season, still splitting his time between summer months on the water and winter on the ice, he graduated to the senior circuit of the OHA with the Toronto Rowing Club. He joined the National Hockey Association in 1914 and spent three seasons honing his skills. He played on two Toronto teams, the Shamrocks and the Blueshirts, and made the trip east one season to play for the Montreal Wanderers for one season.

When the NHA gave way to the National Hockey League in 1917, Skinner was a natural choice for his hometown team, the Toronto Arenas. The Toronto entry in the new league easily won the regular-season title. Skinner had a good year, scoring 13 goals, but he was overshadowed on the championship team by such standouts as Reg Noble and Corb Denneny.

All that changed when the Arenas met the Vancouver Millionaires, the champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey League, for the 1918 Stanley Cup. Cyclone Taylor had joined the Patrick brothers in Vancouver and as a superstar was expected to dominate for the Millionaires in the finals. But instead it was Skinner who exploded, scoring seven goals in the first three games of the five-game series. He scored again in the final game to help Toronto win the title and gain the newly formed NHL the instant recognition that comes with a Stanley Cup.
Skinner played one more season in Toronto and was then enticed to join the Vancouver team he'd helped defeat the previous year. He played in Vancouver for five years, three with the Millionaires and two with the Maroons. His team went almost all the way, reaching four Stanley Cup finals, but he never repeated the success of his first games in the west.

When the Western Canada Hockey League swallowed up the PCHA, Skinner once again joined the NHL. He played for two expansion teams, the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Maroons, in 1924-25 and then joined another new entry, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the next season. He played only seven games for the Pirates and then spent three years in the minors, finishing his career in hockey as coach of the Guelph Maple Leafs in 1929-30.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1911-12

Toronto Argonauts

OHA-Jr.

1912-13

Parkdale Canoe Club

OHA-Jr.

1913-14

Toronto Rowing Club

OHA-Sr.

6

4

0

4

0

1914-15

Toronto Shamrocks

NHA

16

5

2

7

68

1915-16

Toronto Blueshirts

NHA

23

7

4

11

66

1916-17

Toronto Blueshirts

NHA

14

6

7

13

52

1916-17

Montreal Wanderers

NHA

6

5

0

5

23

1917-18

Toronto Arenas

NHL

20

13

5

18

28

2

0

1

1

9

1917-18

Toronto Arenas

St-Cup

5

8

2

10

18

1918-19

Toronto Arenas

NHL

17

12

4

16

26

1919-20

Vancouver Millionaires

PCHA

22

15

2

17

28

2

1

0

1

0

1920-21

Vancouver Millionaires

PCHA

24

20

4

24

22

2

3

1

4

6

1920-21

Vancouver Millionaires

St-Cup

3

4

0

4

14

1921-22

Vancouver Millionaires

PCHA

24

11

2

13

21

2

0

0

0

6

1921-22

Vancouver Millionaires

West-P

2

1

0

1

0

1921-22

Vancouver Millionaires

St-Cup

5

0

1

1

12

1922-23

Vancouver Maroons

PCHA

23

13

2

15

28

2

0

0

0

2

1922-23

Vancouver Maroons

St-Cup

3

1

1

2

6

1923-24

Vancouver Maroons

PCHA

29

5

2

7

38

2

0

0

0

2

1923-24

Vancouver Millionaires

West-P

3

0

0

0

0

1923-24

Vancouver Maroons

St-Cup

2

0

0

0

0

1924-25

Boston Bruins

NHL

10

0

0

0

15

1924-25

Montreal Maroons

NHL

17

1

1

2

16

1925-26

Pittsburgh Pirates

NHL

7

0

0

0

2

1926-27

Duluth Hornets

AHA

23

2

3

5

40

1927-28

Kitchener Millionaires

Can-Pro

18

4

0

4

42

1928-29

Kitchener Flying Dutchmen

Can-Pro

39

14

5

19

63

3

0

0

0

10

1929-30

Guelph Maple Leafs

Can-Pro

NHL Totals

71

26

10

36

87

2

0

1

1

9

PCHA Second All-Star Team (1920, 1921, 1922, 1923)

Signed as a free agent by Toronto Shamrocks, November, 1914. Signed as a free agent by Toronto Blueshirts, November, 1915. Claimed by Montreal Wanderers (NHA) in Dispersal Draft of Toronto (NHA) players, February 11, 1917. Signed as a free agent by Toronto, November 5, 1917. Traded to Vancouver (PCHA) by Toronto for cash, December 7, 1919. Traded to Boston by Vancouver (PCHA) for cash, November 2, 1924. Traded to Mtl. Maroons by Boston for Bernie Morris and Bobby Benson, January 3, 1925. Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh, November 10, 1925. Signed as a free agent by Duluth (AHA), November 10, 1926. Signed as a free agent by Kitchener (Can-Pro) and named playing coach, October 5, 1927. 1922 St-Cup totals include series vs. Regina.